Page 25 of Rules of Engagement

"Exactly."

"I can start working on some names," he said, and both Delgado and Flaherty agreed they would too.

"Names, as in plural?" I wondered.

"It's been a long time," said Delgado. "We've all made some enemies. You, too, no doubt."

"Tell me about it." I counted off all the bad guys whose plans I'd foiled so far and gave up at a dozen. That wasn't including all the people I'd inadvertently crossed in my personal life. Names that would appear on the latter list would include my criminal ex-fiancé, Anthony Simon Steadman, or, as I like to call him, ASS for short, along with several mean girls from high school, and more than a few colleagues during my temping contracts. If I'd bothered that many people, how many had Solomon affected negatively in his much longer, more diverse, career?

"Where are we with cases?" I asked. "Solomon mentioned there were some new ones on the table."

"We're all waiting for new assignments," said Fletcher, "but I'm not sure I want to take on something right now."

"Shelve them all," I decided, darting a glance toward the door. Garrett would be back any minute. "Recommend a competitor if it's urgent or refer them to the police. I need everybody’s help."

"You got it. Where do we start?"

"First thing, I want Solomon under guard at all times. MPD posted a uniform at his room but that officer will be no match if Solomon has a hit man after him. If we split the time up between us, we can each rotate in six-hour shifts."

The three men looked at each other, nodding. "Consider it done," said Delgado.

"I want to know everything that the police find out," I said, thinking harder now. "I trust my brother and all but until we know exactly what's going on, Solomon is our case. We're the people closest to him. We've got to figure this out."

"Agreed," said Fletcher.

"And I want to speak to the whole agency. Is everyone upstairs?"

"I took the liberty of calling everyone in for a meeting. They're assembled upstairs now," said Delgado. "And waiting for an update."

"Let's go speak to them."

We all barreled towards the door, almost colliding with Garrett as he returned. "Where's the fire?" he asked.

"We're heading upstairs. I want to brief the rest of the agency on MPD's visit," I said.

"All of you?"

"We're Lexi's protection now," said Flaherty. "Where she goes, we go, except when we don't need to."

Garrett frowned, trying to get his head around what I figured was a purposefully confusing comment. "Let's go," he said, stepping out of the way.

When we got upstairs, I turned, putting a hand up. "You can't come into this area," I told Garrett. "Solomon restricted it to employees only."

"I have a badge. I can go wherever I like."

"Just give me a minute, okay? There's usually a lot of need-to-know work going on in here and don’t forget: our clients value their privacy greatly."

"More than their boss's welfare?" Garrett asked.

I drew in a deep breath. "They'll respect agency policy whether he's here or not, because that's what he demands of them," I said. "I'll be a few minutes and I'll make sure everyone is available for interviewing and I’ll also insist that they hand over any pertinent information."

"So long as it doesn't compromise client privacy," said Delgado. "That is still important."

"Go ahead," said Garrett.

I punched the access code into the keypad and the four of us stepped through, closing the door and leaving Garrett alone on the empty landing.

Delgado put his fingers to his lips and let out a piercing whistle that stopped all the chatter and typing, turning all heads towards us. I took a deep breath, unprepared for the undivided attention.

"You all heard what happened last night," I started, addressing the assembled employees of PIs, security consultants, ex-cops, and who knows what else Solomon employed. "Solomon is out of surgery but he’s not out of danger yet. The crucial thing now is to find the person who did this."

"What do you want us to do?" asked Lucas loudly, crossing the floor to us.

"Stop everything you're doing. MPD are on their way to interview everyone and I expect your full cooperation. If you're not sure if you can say something, check with me first, or Delgado, or Fletcher or Flaherty. If you have any idea about someone who wanted to harm Solomon, I want you to tell them who it is. Then, I want you to tell me. I want to know every single detail that the police know, preferably before they know it. Drop everything you're working on that isn't essential right now. Your only case for the time being is Solomon." I looked around, making eye contact with every person in the room, hoping they comprehended the importance of what I was asking them. "To start with, I need every single one of you to tell me how you got to know Solomon and who might want him dead."

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